


Shared Nights

by lieano



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dreamsharing, Fluff, Giant Robots, Halloween, Hand Jobs, Horror, Kaiju, M/M, Nightmares, Witchcraft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-25
Updated: 2016-11-01
Packaged: 2018-08-24 13:03:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8373232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lieano/pseuds/lieano
Summary: "If you ever end up here again, find my house. Always look for my house. It’s safe here. I can protect you."A multichapter fic written for AsaNoya Halloween Week 2016 where Asahi and Nishinoya meet in their dreams and during their adventures there grow very close.





	1. Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> A new chapter will be uploaded every day this week and follow the prompts from this blog: http://asanoyaweek.tumblr.com/  
> Today's prompt was nightmares which set up the entire theme of the story pretty nicely. This is actually the first HQ fic I think I’ve ever posted?? So sorry if it’s bad or inaccurate anywhere. Please let me know what you think! Happy Halloween~~~

The wrought iron gate jiggled uselessly in Asahi’s fists. It was locked. It was not going to open. He was trapped. He flipped around and pressed his back to the gate to take in the situation surrounding him. He wasn’t quite sure how he knew there was an alternate exit (he wasn’t even sure how he came to be in this place), but he knew that it was around the back of the spacious manor that stretched out of the darkness before him.

Based off his panicked observations, there were two options of escape for him. The first was a garden that seemed to wrap around the entire perimeter of the house. It wasn’t a perfect plan due to the thick fog blanketing the entire area. It was impossible to see more than a couple of feet in any direction. Still, he could see the dark green branches of trees reaching out toward visibility and he could hear the soft trickle of a pond. It seemed peaceful, if completely mysterious.

The other option was the house itself. Surely there was a back door. In fact, somehow Asahi _knew_ there was one. He just didn’t know where. And for all the mystery shrouding the garden, the house was infinitely more unpredictable. The garden would have trees, a pond and maybe some flowers. It was in the open air which abated his claustrophobia. Furthermore, if the fog was _really_ impossible to navigate, he could always hug the side of the house or the gate locking him in. The house, on the other hand, was full of hallways and doors that Asahi didn’t know. The openings were pitch black. There wasn’t a single light on inside and absolutely no sense of life. That was, until Asahi saw out of the corner of his eye a flicker of movement in one of the dark windows. That single flicker was the deciding factor. Asahi bolted for the misty garden.

For a while, everything went as planned. Asahi stepped lightly on the wet earth. He tried not to make any noises. If something was in the house, he didn’t want to attract it outside. He moved swiftly, but quietly. He was so hyper focused on not tripping or breaking a branch that he didn’t even notice something was touching his hair until his head was jerked backward violently, almost sending him to the ground.

With shaky hands, Asahi reached up the back of his head and followed his long brown hair upwards until he felt what he knew in one horrifying moment to be an icy cold human hand. He fumbled but managed to yank the fingers out of his hair and stumbled backwards, twisting his body so that he could see what had grabbed him.

What had once been innocent enough tree branches reaching for the moonlight had become disembodied human hands that actively reached for Asahi. They grabbed and groped, trying to get ahold of him. He stumbled onto his behind, low and out of their reach. 

He instantly felt wet on his pants and knew that he had fallen into the shallow pond he had heard earlier. Of course, at the moment it was of little concern to him. He stared at the tree hands, trying to make sense of them. His heart was pounding, making it impossible to scream, though he could feel his eyes welling up with tears.

He was perfectly still for only a moment. That was when a tickling sensation washed over one of his submerged hands. He looked down and, to his unquenchable terror, saw wet black hair trailing over him. It was attached to a body floating face up in the water. A dead body. A waterlogged, rotting dead body.

Asahi yelped and scrambled out of the water. He was frantic, but careful not to re-enter the radius of the trees. When he faced the pond again to see what he had missed the first time, his stomach lurched in disgust. There were bodies floating over almost every inch of the water’s surface. It was shallow, but they each looked drowned, their lifeless eyes staring up at the moonlight, and their mouths gaping open.

Asahi was on his feet quickly, running deeper in the mist. He had to get away from the pond and the trees. If the garden was this hellish, there was no telling what sort of horrors laid inside the house.

Just when he couldn’t get any more panicked, there was a flash of something solid in the corner of his eye. A second later, before he could even process it, the same something was barreling into his back, throwing him face first into the mud.

As far as Asahi was concerned in that moment, it was the end of his life. He was officially dead. He had not made it through the haunted garden. A ghost or a demon had finally taken him down. But that’s not what happened. After a heartbeat, Asahi realized he was still very much alive. He could taste mud and he was winded and his heart was racing so fast it could explode at any minute, but he was alive. There was a new heavy presence on his back, however. He quickly twisted his head around as far as he could and registered two different things at the same time. The first thing was a pair of large, golden, living human eyes. The second was the apparition of a rotting, hanged man that flew above him, not touching him, but swinging right through the spot he had been standing moments ago. He stifled his scream, and when the apparition disappeared he turned his attention back to the golden eyes and their owner. 

Before he could even get a word out he was met with an incredulous, “Where did you come from?”

Asahi stuttered. His brain was, to the say the least, lagging. “U-uh.. I-I-I Uh… W-who are y-you? Wh-Where am I?”

The longer he stared, the more the image of the person on his back started to process. The eyes belonged to a boy with spiked black hair that had a small blonde streak in the front for dramatic effect. The boys stood up together and Asahi noted that he was also short. At least a whole head shorter than Asahi himself. But his gaze was intense and no part of the situation made Asahi feel as though he had superiority over this boy.

“I just saved your life,” he exclaimed. Then his gaze darted over his shoulder and he quickly added, “We can’t stay here! The garden is haunted! We gotta get inside the house!”

Next thing Asahi knew, he was being dragged toward the foggy building through the mist. He could hear more than just the trickle of the pond now. The occasional spooky moan spurned him on. But the walls of the house looming out of the mist were not much more comforting.

“I-If the garden is this h-haunted, don’t you think the house is probably not much better?” he whined, practically pleaded with the _surprisingly strong_ shorter boy.

“My grandfather is a powerful monk,” the boy responded shortly over his shoulder. “The house is covered in protection charms. We have to get inside. Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”

Asahi’s heart skipped one powerful thud. The confidence this boy exuded was almost contagious. It spurned him on and they dashed across the fields of threatening undead, barely dodging body parts and traps with every step.

Just before entering, Asahi had noticed a large lion head carved right in the center of the giant wooden front door, its fangs bared and reaching for the monstrosities threatening to break through. He was comforted by it. When it slammed shut behind them, the haunting moaning cut off instantly. It was quiet inside the house. Peaceful. Asahi took several deep breaths and wiped the tears out of the corners of his eyes. He resisted the urge to curl up in a ball until the terrors he had just experienced were erased from his memory. Instead, he turned his attention to his panting, but upright and confident savior.

“I’m Nishinoya. What’s your name?” the boy started without missing a beat.

Asahi swallowed roughly. His voice came out hoarse. “A-Asahi-”

“Asahi-san, I don't know how you got here or what your nightmares are doing in _my_ dream-”

“What? D-dream? What’s going on?”

“Listen very carefully. If you ever end up here again, find my house. Always look for my house. It’s safe here. I can protect you.”

There was a beat of silence and before it was over, before Asahi could respond or give thanks or even acknowledge what his words implied, the image of Nishinoya’s face was ripped from him.

It took him a few moments to figure out what had happened. One minute he had been squatting on the wood floors of a dark, but safe house next to a boy he had never seen before, but who felt so real. The next, he was in his own bed in his own house, wrapped up in sheets. His alarm was blaring loudly on the beside table and sunlight was spilling across his vision from behind the curtains.

He was still breathing heavily. His heart was still racing. He was covered in a thin layer of cold sweat. But it had been a dream. A nightmare. And that boy… The more Asahi thought about him, the further the images of the ghosts and demons got from him. That boy didn’t feel like a dream. He didn’t feel fake. He had felt very alive. Very solid. Very real. Asahi quickly recalled his words. _“Find my house.”_

He didn’t know what those words meant, but they felt very important. That boy. His house. It all felt _very_ important. And Asahi wasn’t going to forget any of it.


	2. Monster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter really wanted to be a Pacific Rim AU, but I think I BARELY managed to avoid it haha. Anyway, Asanoya Halloween Week Prompt for Day 2 was monsters so have a kaiju. :)

After the ghosts in the garden, Asahi had a couple of restless nights before he was thrown into horrific chaos again. But it happened, and just like the first time he could think of no particular explanation for the situation. He was on a street he didn’t recognize. There was a chance he had never been to that part of town before, but a more likely reason was that the entire world around him was on fire. Flames spread like a disease from building to building until there was nothing left. Smoke filled the air, making it hard to see the otherwise bright blue daylight sky.

There was continuous screaming and alarms going off everywhere. It was hard to even hear himself think in all the cacophony. People were running, frantically, right past him. They held onto their loved ones, burnt and bleeding and barefoot, all heading in the same direction and not giving Asahi a second glance as they almost collided into him every few minutes.

Suddenly, the ground was shaking. The quake lasted only a second, but almost knocked Asahi off his feet. It was followed immediately by an ear splitting, blood curdling roar. Asahi didn’t want to look over his shoulder at the source of the sound, but he did and knew at once that the image would be seared in his brain forever.

A massive monster was making obliterating the city mere miles away. It was hundreds of feet tall, at least, surpassing the tallest skyscraper by far. If he had to compare it to a creature he was familiar with, Asahi would say it was dinosaur-like at its core, but really it reminded him of a monster from a sci-fi movie more than anything. It was covered in black scales from head to toe except where its mouth was gaping wide showing rows of car-sized sharp fangs and a blood drenched tongue. It stood on its hind legs which were powerful and large in their own right, causing the small earthquakes every time it moved. Its arms were far reaching, muscular and ended in talons that easily shredded any man-made metal it tried to grasp. The last detail Asahi really took a note of was the tail which was as long as the beast was tall, and thick, smashing through anything left in its wake. Asahi catalogued all the ways this monster could kill him or cause his death indirectly and he didn’t waste a moment longer to follow the crowd of fleeing refugees in the opposite direction. 

His lungs were on fire after he had been sprinting for almost a solid minute. He looked around at the unfamiliar neighborhood, grasping for an easier way out. He was lost and panicked. Until the exact instant his eyes rested on a familiar wrought iron gate.

Asahi stepped out of the road, completely unnoticed by any other civilians, and approached the manor. Just beyond the fence was a garden that he recognized instantly even though his last encounter with it had been in a pitch black night during a thick fog. It looked smaller now, somehow. Incredibly less threatening. And there were no dead bodies as far as Asahi could tell which was encouraging. The house sat, once again, completely void of life. It looked out of place in the mayhem.

The door with a carved lion’s head suddenly flew open and Asahi was staring through the gate at a pair of large golden eyes. His stomach fluttered. “Asahi-san!” Nishinoya all but screamed, though he looked very pleased and not at all distressed for the situation. “Glad you could make it! Get in quick!!”

The gate was unlocked this time and Asahi quickly flung it open and put the last of his strength in a sprint for the house. Just before he stepped inside, however, he glanced over his shoulder at the giant monster again. It was slowly creeping closer. Though its pace was slow, its reach was broad. It would be upon the neighborhood any minute. Asahi remembered very clearly what Nishinoya had said about the house being safe last time he was here, but he could not see how it would defend them this time. Surely, going indoors was a death sentence.

He didn’t have a time to air his grievances, however. A small hand grabbed his forearm tightly and tugged him the last few steps inside. The door shut behind them and without any further discussion, Nishinoya was leading them swiftly down an empty hallway.

“Nishinoya,” Asahi started, though he had to take a breath afterward. It was weird, but he had never actually said the boy’s name out loud, just thought it to himself before engaging with disappointing dreamless sleeps. “I know you think your house is safe, but we should definitely not stay here. That thing is getting closer!”

“I don’t _think_ my house is safe, Asahi-san, _my house is safe_ ,” Nishinoya was very firm, but continued walking as he spoke. “It’s the safest place in the city right now. My grandfather was a deep space explorer. He built the whole house out of alien material that he harvested from that thing’s home planet decades ago. It’s completely impenetrable.”

“I thought your grandfather was a monk…” Asahi mumbled.

“That was a couple nights ago, now he’s a deep space explorer, keep up!”

While Asahi felt like he had been punched in the gut by all he had just witnessed, Nishinoya was brimming with energy. He was very fast for having such a limited gait. His continued grip on Asahi’s forearm was sturdy. He seemed to be leading them with purpose. Asahi couldn’t sympathize with his demeanor, but he admired it.

“You are awfully cheerful for being in another nightmare.”

Nishinoya stopped walking briefly and turned to Asahi with his eyes wide but serious. “That’s because this time it isn’t a nightmare.” A wicked grin flashed across his face and Asahi felt goosebumps shoot up his arm. “It’s one of my dreams.”

“W-What?!” Asahi shouted incredulously. “How is this a dream?! People are dying outside!”

“Last time you were here was a dream too. Or it was supposed to be. I was gonna be a ghost hunter and vanquish all of the ghouls attracted to the garden by my awesome divine lineage! But then you showed up and turned it into a nightmare. I think I got you inside the house quick enough that this one is still a dream, though. So we’re fine. It’s gonna be badass when we save the town! Maybe impress a few ladies…”

Nishinoya winked as Asahi, who blushed against his better judgement, then continued to lead the way. Asahi couldn’t help but chuckle at how nonchalant the shorter boy was being in such a situation. He realized then that he, also, was pretty relaxed in Nishinoya’s presence. The racing of his heart had settled. He was no long so afraid he thought he might pass out. This was literally only his second encounter with the guy, but he felt like they’d known each other their whole lives. Nishinoya, true to his word, made him feel safe.

They sped past many empty rooms and with every passing doorway, Asahi grew more and more curious. “If this is the safest building in town, why isn’t anyone hiding here?”

“Because the house also turns into a giant robot that we’re gonna use to defeat the monster.”

The answer was so casual and so quick that halted all function in Asahi’s brain. “Wait, _what_?!”

“Yeah!” Nishinoya added a little excited hop to his step. “It was my grandfather’s lifelong mission to build a weapon capable of defeating the giant alien monsters when they arrived. My father finished his work, and now I will pilot it! With your help of course.”

“Nishinoya this is-”

“Isn’t it awesome, Asahi-san?! We’re going to be heros!”

Asahi took a deep breath. _It's all a dream, it's all a dream_ he repeated to himself. He wasn't going to die. At worst he would have a bad day when he woke up. At best… Nishinoya reached an uncharacteristic dome metal door. He turned toward Asahi and he had the brightest grin on his face. There was a challenge in his expression. It made Asahi’s stomach flutter again. At best, he supposed, he would be a hero.

The control room they entered was cramped to say the least. The door lead directly into a long chair that was surrounded by controls above, in front and below. There was a long screen wrapping around the wall in between the panels, but currently it was black. There was no floor space. Nishinoya crawled into the chair and scooted forward so that his feet could reach the pedals but Asahi noticed that if he was manning the controls he could not quite reach the panels above or behind him. Furthermore, he was so small that he didn’t touch the back of the chair. There was still some room for another person behind him. Barely, but it was there. And Nishinoya patted it welcomingly.

“Come on, big guy. Unfortunately I’m too short to reach all the controls. I need your help. I know it's a tight squeeze because you're so huge, but we can make it work."

Asahi was nervous but he was learning that there was little he could do to resist Nishinoya’s charm. He clumsily pulled himself into the cockpit behind Nishinoya and closed the dome door behind him. His knees rested on either side of the smaller boy's frame, and he tried to make sure they weren't touching too much but it was a near impossible endeavor. Nishinoya was basically in his lap.

Once they were situated (and not buckled in, Asahi noted with dull apprehension) Nishinoya started to press buttons and flick switches in front of him. The control panel immediately hummed to life and the monitor flipped on. For a second the image of the bright outside world was blinding. Asahi caught his bearings quickly though. He had to. The house was vibrating violently.

A loud banging noise drew a short yelp out of Asahi, which made Nishinoya cackle and yell, “Don't worry, that's normal! The house is rearranging the rooms and transforming!”

The image on the screen in front of them started to fly upwards through the air. When they finally came to a stop, Asahi found himself hovering a couple hundred feet above the ground. The screen was wide enough that he could see downward into the distance and his stomach lurched, causing him to yelp again. The house must have been done rearranging because the banging stopped and Nishinoya looked over his shoulder with a confident grin. “Really Asahi-san, you don't have to be afraid. The house will protect us.”

The giant humanoid robot that the house had become immediately attracted the attention of the monster. It roared in challenge and started to move quicker than it had been toward them. Asahi was expecting Nishinoya to yell something heroic and charge at the monster, but instead, he had grown eerily quiet. Asahi could only see the back of his head and not being able to read the shorter boy’s face was making him nervous. He had no idea what the controls surrounding him would do but he had a feeling he shouldn’t touch any of them until Nishinoya told him. And Nishinoya wasn’t saying anything.

When the monster was within range, it chucked a bus right at their cockpit. Asahi knew, practically speaking, that the bus would do little to no damage to their robot. It became evident that the monster had terrible aim when the projectile started to pitch downwards and to the left, completely out of their path. It wasn’t even going to hit them. Then, just for a flicker of a moment, with the sun shining on the windows, Asahi saw a face and his heart dropped. A moment later, his stomach dropped with it as the robot was suddenly pulled in a deep, fast crouch.

When he opened his eyes again, Asahi saw that the bus was sitting safely and comfortably in the robot’s open palm. Nishinoya had his own hands on two joysticks in front of him. He had moved the robot so swiftly he caught the people with gentle ease. _Amazing reflexes_ Asahi thought to himself, a little starstruck. Nishinoya set them on the ground and turned back to the advancing robot.

“You ready to rock and roll, Asahi-san?”

Asahi nodded, even though he knew his partner wasn’t looking at him. He was feeling fired up all of the sudden. They were really going to do this. They were going to save some lives. “I am.”

The monster ran right into their fist. The crash of alien steel and black scales was deafening. The vibrations shot up Asahi’s entire body so violently he thought he might jump out of his own skin. It was the most unpleasant experience of his life. Until the monster punched back.

They exchanged blows a couple of times before Nishinoya shouted over his shoulder, “Asahi-san! There’s a missile right above you! Pull down the scope and aim at the monster then fire!”

Asahi looked up and sure enough sticking out of the roof just in front of him on the ceiling were two handles attached to a scope. He tugged on them and they pulled out of the ceiling like a periscope on a submarine. On the each handle was a trigger.

“Aim for its head and push the buttons on the handles at the same time!” Nishinoya ordered right before jerking the robot into a sharp right twist so he could upper cut the monster. “Can you do that?”

“I think so!” Asahi responded from behind the periscope. “Just… try to keep us steady for a second…”

Nishinoya grappled with the monster to hold it still which gave Asahi a clear shot into its face. He aimed the scope and pulled the triggers at the perfect moment. His heart was racing but his mind was clear. A missile shot out of the robot’s mouth and hit the monster square between the eyes. It roared in pain, a deeper roar than usual, before it stumbled backwards and crashed to the ground below. Dead.

Asahi was stunned. He pulled his eyes away from the scope and watched the monster fall through the large screen. It was immensely satisfying. He felt a little grin of triumph creep up the corners of his lips. The feeling was just settling in when, in a startling move, Nishinoya twisted around in their shared chair and latched his arms around Asahi’s shoulders in a joyful embrace. He then proceeded to scream in Asahi’s ear, “THAT WAS KICKASS! Your aim was INCREDIBLE!”

Asahi was flustered by the sudden contact but he reciprocated it, patting the strange boy on the back and chuckling warmly. “Y-Yeah. It was pretty fun.”

When he was aroused from sleep a second later, Asahi was still grinning and his heart was pounding with left over adrenaline. He looked at the sunlight filtering in through his room and took a deep breath in through his nose. It was going to be a great day, but he couldn’t wait for sleep to come again.


	3. Witchcraft & Wizardry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is starting to get pretty gay lol Anyway the day 3 prompt is Witchcraft & Wizardry. Witches bring me nothing but joy so I couldn't bring myself to make this chapter as creepy as the previous ones. Hope you enjoy it~

The busy shopping district felt a little odd to Asahi. He didn’t recognize any of the stores or buildings, which were all multi colored, bright and neon. Cats and birds were running amok. People in long black robes were exchanging mysterious bottles as commerce. But everyone seemed happy. The weather was pleasant. No one was screaming or trying to attack him.

It was strange and Asahi was definitely lost, but he could find very few reasons to complain. He was just thankful that for _once_ he had come to a place that wasn’t actively trying to kill him.

In addition to the jubilant atmosphere, Asahi was also grateful to realize he didn’t have to go looking for Nishinoya. Right in front of him was a yellow painted store with a bright red roof that declared itself to be called “Toil & Trouble”. Inside was the short man he was growing ever familiar with, bent over a small cauldron on a table in the middle of the room. His tongue was poking out between his lips and his brows were knitted in concentration as he stirred the contents of the cauldron. Asahi duly noted how strange it was to see Nishinoya in a location other than his house, but also decided to take it as a good omen. If he didn’t need to be protected by the house, then this world must not have been very dangerous.

When the bell above the door jingled to announce Asahi’s entrance, Nishinoya beamed at him. “Asahi-san! I wasn’t expecting to see you here! You have crazy awesome timing, come taste this!”

Asahi approached the cauldron and peered down his nose at the contents. It was dark green and bubbling. It didn’t resemble any food Asahi had ever seen. Nishinoya held up a ladle full of the stuff and offered it to him proudly. “What is it?” he asked tentatively.

“A secret family recipe I’ve been teaching myself.”

Asahi took the ladle and sniffed it. It smelled faintly like singed hair. “What’s in it?” he tried again.

Nishinoya rolled his eyes. “It’s a secret! Just try it, will ya!”

Knowing that he wouldn’t win any sort of argument, Asahi leaned forward to take a large sip out of the ladle. He almost immediately gagged. The texture was horrible. It was thick and grainy, not at all what it looked like in the cauldron with the bubbles. He had been expecting something soupy and runny so it was a little shocking at first. The taste wasn’t much better either. Asahi didn’t know which rotted food it was indicative of, but he knew it didn’t feel right. He tried not to visibly choke. “I think… It could use a few more spices?”

Asahi expected to be called out on his lie, largely because he considered himself to be an extremely transparent person. So when Nishinoya started roaring with laughter, he was a little taken aback. It was a rumbling, loud belly laugh. Nishinoya was arched backwards and clutching his stomach as the amusement possessed him. It was very fitting for the brash and boisterous boy and Asahi decided it was sort of nice.

“So, um, what is this place?” Asahi asked as he moved away from the cauldron to inspect some of the shelves. The first shelf he walked up to was lined with jars that were filled with eyeballs all staring unblinking at him. He quickly shuffled down a row to what appeared to be a collection of spellbooks.

“Oh, this is my family’s shop,” Nishinoya said as he started to divvy his creation up into some tupperware. “My grandfather was a famous warlock who traveled the world and learned from all the greats. When he came to this town, magic wasn’t widely practiced so he taught the people here everything he knew. Ever since, my family has been the largest retailer of witchcraft and wizardry in the area.”

“This is really cool,” Asahi mumbled as he flipped through the pages of one of the smaller spellbooks. It was crammed with spells for silly things like curing freeze brain within a second and changing the color of one’s hair without dye.

“Yeah, this stuff is alright,” Nishinoya said flippantly. “But if you wanna see some REALLY magical items you should come back to my house. We’ve got a storeroom in the basement where Grandfather kept all his really rare and potent magic. In fact, let's go right now! I’m done here anyway!”

Nishinoya started to wipe down the surface he had been working on. He was small, but he must have been very strong. As he scrubbed, his biceps flexed and Asahi could not help but stare. He watched as a little drop of soap squirted up and landed on Nishinoya’s cheek. It would have been so easy to just cross the room and swipe it away with a thumb-

“I-I’ll be outside!” Asahi squeaked before rushing out the front door. His heart was racing and he couldn’t quite tell why. This world was peaceful, he shouldn’t be in survival mode like he had been before. This felt like a slightly different sort of turmoil though. Luckily he didn’t have to brood over it. He was quickly joined by Nishinoya. “So how far to your house from here?”

When he glanced down for an answer, Asahi was a little startled to find a subtle pout on Nishinoya’s face. “Do you not recognize this street?”

Asahi scanned the neon colored buildings and shrugged. “I’m sorry. Should I?”

This response made Nishinoya sigh, proving that he was capable of negative emotions. “Not necessarily. It’s just that this is a real popular shopping district in my hometown. If you’ve never been here before we must not live that close in real life… Bummer.” Asahi’s heart skipped a beat. He did not particularly care to find out why.

Nishinoya had moved over to a small umbrella rack outside the store. Except, upon closer inspection, Asahi found that it wasn’t filled with umbrellas. There was a broom in one of the slots and Nishinoya plucked it up without hesitation. “Anyway, my house isn’t that far if we fly!”

For all intents and purposes, Asahi blacked out in between the suggestion and when he found himself hovering above the buildings with only a stick between his legs keeping him airborne. He was so terrified at first that he latched his arms around Nishinoya’s waist and clamped his eyes shut. He could feel Nishinoya chuckle in his arms. “Don’t be scared Asahi-san! I won’t let you fall! If you did you might roll out of bed in real life and hurt yourself and I would never let that happen, I promise!” Asahi was not entirely comforted by his words but he cracked his eyes open anyway. Slowly at first, then wider as he started to actually take in the surroundings.

They weren’t as high in the sky as they had been in the giant robot, but they were still soaring above rooftops. The smiling faces of people working below followed them out of town. The sun was starting to set, painting the sky in beautiful purples and oranges. It filtered in through the skyscrapers of the city and bounced off of their tall pillars of windows. He could see green mountains far in the distance. The birds flew just above them, almost within reach. Trees whizzed by like a green ocean. He was surprised, to say the least, to find out that he wasn’t frightened. Everything was so beautiful and he felt so free. He was weightless sitting on just a branch in the sky. And even though Nishinoya was so much smaller than him, it felt so comfortable to have his back pressed into Asahi’s chest. He felt so safe with his arms around Nishinoya’s chest.

He needed to get his mind off of it. “How are you so certain that I’m not a figment of your imagination?” Asahi asked in Nishinoya’s ear, perfectly aware that at their speed the wind would probably obscure his words a little. He tried to speak up.

Nishinoya hummed at the question. “Well… Are you?”

“N-no,” Asahi stuttered. “I mean, I wake up and continue to have a life after these dreams.”

Nishinoya twisted his head to glance over his shoulder and their faces were suddenly so close. He didn’t seem to mind. His smile was as bright as the sun. “Yeah, I knew it. I just have this gut instinct ya know? You’re real. I can feel it. Why? Do you think I’m a figment of your imagination?”

“W-Well sometimes it’s just hard to believe… Sometimes it’s like you were made for-” Asahi stopped abruptly. Made for what? Where was he going with that thought? Made for ASAHI? What was happening to him? Did he… Have a crush on Nishinoya?

His long pause gave Nishinoya a reasonable excuse to worry. “Asahi-san? Are you okay? You’re not going to barf are you?”

“I-I-I’m fine,” Asahi managed to squeak out. He cleared his throat. This was almost too much. He had to divert the train of thought again. “I was just going to say that you seem to fit into these dreams very well. It’s hard to believe you might exist outside of them.” What he said was true, at least. It was almost impossible to imagine Nishinoya as a real person that lived without magic or giant robots. Thankfully the shorter boy didn’t read too much into it. He commented on how cool that made him feel, brushed it off and then pointed out that his house was manifesting on the horizon.

As soon as Asahi’s feet touched the ground in front of the entry way, he felt safer. Even though he wasn’t in a dangerous dream, the house was still welcoming to him. Nishinoya slotted his broom into a new umbrella rack, then quickly led him into the house and down to the basement. The storeroom held every bit of magic that the the shop had times ten, and it was a hundred times less organized. There were portraits hung haphazardly on the walls that followed Asahi with their gazes. There were stacks of old brooms and wands and spellbooks. Shelves were crammed with jars and vials containing every sort of body part and every hue of liquid imaginable. It was dusty but not in the dirty sort of way as much as the historical importance sort of way.

Nishinoya started to highlight his favorites right away. He talked emphatically of a tooth his grandfather ripped right out of a dragon’s maw. He passionately elucidated the tale of the time his grandfather traveled to England and procured a rare wand hand crafted by Merlin himself. Asahi just watched with enraptured delight. He was ardent and animated in his story telling. So full of life and energy.

Finally, after a long winded tale about the greatest wizarding duel Nishinoya’s grandfather had ever won, Asahi noticed a beaker filled with green liquid and plucked it off the shelf. It was almost the exact same hue as the potion Nishinoya had been mixing in the store and it was unlabeled. “What’s this?” he asked.

“Oh that’s a good one!” Nishinoya exclaimed. “It’s a very potent potion and incredibly difficult to make. It’s a love potion.”

Asahi hesitated. “Love potion?”

“Yeah! It can make you infatuated with the brewer. They’re almost never successful. Only witches and wizards from powerful lineages like mine would be able to pull them off, so that one is very rare.”

Nishinoya continued talking, but Asahi was starting to tune him out. He was panicking, because he was pretty sure he had figured out _exactly_ what this meant. It meant that, to answer his own earlier question, yes he DEFINITELY had a crush on Nishinoya. But not through some fault of his own feelings. He had been tricked! The awful potion Nishinoya had been brewing in the store had clearly been akin to this love potion and Nishinoya had fed it to him on purpose. Wasn’t that when he had started to feel strange?

...Wasn’t it?

Asahi swallowed the lump that was growing in his throat. His mouth was dry. He was nervous, but he absolutely had to get to the bottom of this. “Nishinoya… You weren’t… Were you brewing one in the shop?”

Nishinoya stopped his story and shot Asahi a very confused look. It was a strange expression. It didn’t belong on the face of someone who was always so confident. He looked at the beaker in Asahi’s hand, then back up his face and his eyes widened in recognition. “Oh, I guess they kinda look alike, huh? But, no, love potions are dangerous! I would never- Wait… Asahi-san… Why would you think I had given you a love potion? Are you-”

Asahi was on his feet out of his bed in an instant. He didn’t even realize he had woken up right away. He just knew that his heart was racing and he had to pace to keep up with it. He glanced at the clock and noted that there was still another hour before he had to wake up, but he was pretty sure he would never sleep again after that dream.

He closed his eyes and took in several deep breaths to calm himself. That’s what it was. A dream. If Nishinoya had slipped him a love potion in the dream, it wouldn’t still work in the real world, right? He was probably fine. He summoned an image of Nishinoya in his brain to test it. Beautiful eyes, bright smile, cool hair, small but muscular. His body pressed into Asahi’s lap. His gusto and passion and tendency to always be there when Asahi needed him the most-

Asahi opened his eyes and stared blankly at the wall across from him. There was no such thing as a love potion, and for that reason Asahi decided he was in a lot of trouble.


	4. Pumpkin Carving

The garden was so beautiful with pumpkins growing everywhere. Every single was a perfect shade of bright orange, connected by long green tendril vines. Asahi knelt by a short round pumpkin and placed his hand gently on its hard skin. The shape was so ideal consistently around, it could definitely only be found in a dream.

“Did you find one you like?”

Asahi was startled at the sudden voice and whirled around to see Nishinoya standing at the edge of the garden. He looked very comfortable in a large hoddie, his hands tucked into the pocket in the front. But his face was uncharacteristically serious. Didn’t he usually greet Asahi with unparalleled enthusiasm? It made Asahi’s stomach lurch nervously.

“I, uh, this is a nice one,” he mumbled, turning back to the pumpkin he had one hand on.

Nishinoya nodded, perhaps in agreement. “Pick it and come inside. We’re about to start carving.”

Nothing about this situation was making Asahi feel at ease. Nishinoya was acting strange. Of course, he had a few guesses as to why. Last time they had met, Asahi had basically confessed his feelings for Nishinoya and then promptly disappeared for several nights. They hadn’t had a chance to talk about it. Asahi didn’t particularly _want_ to have a chance to talk about it. He knew where the conversation would go. So he kept himself awake all night as long as he could until finally fatigue won and he fell into the current deep sleep. Still, Asahi didn’t pride himself on being rude. He liberated the pumpkin from its flimsy vine and hurried after his friend.

“So, what does your grandfather do this time?” Asahi asked nervously, trying to break the awkward silence hanging between him and Nishinoya.

Nishinoya just shrugged. “It’s not really relevant in this dream because he’s actually here. My folks are too. There is no magic in this one… Just my family.” Finally, and Asahi praised the gods for it, Nishinoya shot him a smile. “I’m excited for you to meet them.”

Asahi was relieved, but he was also a little nervous now. He was going to meet Nishinoya’s family? He was going to meet his parents and the famous grandfather he had heard so much about. Well, dream versions of them, but it didn’t make the situation was any less stressful.

He became suddenly aware that he had never seen another soul besides Nishinoya in the house. When a sliding door opened to a dimly lit enclosed porch and Asahi was faced with six or seven strangers, he started to sweat. He was bad at meeting new people. He should have warned Nishinoya.

They were introduced as Nishinoya’s uncle, aunt, young cousin, parents and two grandparents. Asahi didn’t retain their names very well, which just made him sweat a little more. Everyone had their own pumpkin in their lap and was already scooping the guts out so they could start working on their carvings.

Nishinoya sat down next to his grandmother and motioned for Asahi to join him on the floor. They were handed pumpkin carving saws and started chiseling the hide eagerly. Asahi went through the motions silently (remove the top, scoop out the seeds, one step at a time), observing how Nishinoya acted around his family as he did so. He was relaxed. He wasn’t particularly loud or obnoxious like Asahi was used to seeing him. If anything, he looked subdued. Content. And his large eyes reflected nothing but adoration for his family.

His aunt and uncle remained, for the most part, involved with each other more so than anyone else. Their ten year old daughter occasionally would hop up to show everyone the progress on her unicorn carving. It didn’t look anything like a horse, but they did their best to cheer her on regardless before she went back to getting her father’s help with the knife. Sometimes she would get frustrated with how hard it was and bounce over to Nishinoya to see what he was doing. Asahi watched her, but tried not to engage. He leaned away from her stare. It was awfully judgemental for how adorable she was. She resembled Nishinoya a lot with her giant intense golden eyes.

The legendary grandfather was very quiet, Asahi came to find out. He couldn’t quite pinpoint it, but it seemed like every time he was asked a question or directed a comment he would just nod or smile or grunt. He looked regal in his robes, however. His pumpkin involved surface carving that was very delicate and precise There was no roughness, only elegancy.

Nishinoya’s parents, on the other hand, were the brightest two in the room next to their son. They laughed and chatted enthusiastically with everyone around them. It was very clear to see where Nishinoya got all of his energy and kindness from. His grandmother, as well, had a lot of personality. She teased Asahi for his contrasting wild looks and timid personality, but in a good natured way. She didn’t mean any offense and he didn’t take any. He enjoyed her presence.

Nishinoya had carved out a giant jagged lightning bolt. It splintered across the front of his pumpkin and he boasted loudly about how it represented his untameable soul. Asahi had just carved a friendly jack-o-lantern face. It was simple, but sometimes the simplicity in traditions was what made him feel at home. And he definitely wanted to feel at home with these people, in this house.

They were both done before anyone else in the family, which was incredible as they had shown up much later. Nishinoya’s grandma scolded them for having no originality and picking an easy design. Nishinoya just laughed. The sound made Asahi’s stomach flutter.

“Asahi-san, don’t pay attention to her! I think your pumpkin is cool! Wanna go put it on the porch with me while everyone else finishes carving?” Asahi could read the fine print in Nishinoya’s suggestion. They needed to talk.

They sat down side by side on the steps of the porch and Nishinoya pulled out two candles and a lighter. Their fingers brushed lightly past each other as the items were exchanged and it did not escape Asahi at all. He fumbled with the lighter, somehow not managing to get the flame alive with his trembling hands.

After an embarrassing few seconds, Nishinoya put a hand over Asahi’s and gently took the lighter. “Let me help,” he said in a low voice. Asahi’s heartbeat quickened.

With the candle lit and the two pumpkins sitting side by side, it was tempting to stay quiet. But the silence was also burning Asahi up in side. “Why are you so nice to me all the time?” he croaked quietly, too scared to meet Nishinoya’s fierce gaze. “You don’t know anything about me.”

Nishinoya immediately scoffed at the comment, clearly offended. “That’s not true! I know a ton about you!” Asahi gave him a look of disbelief. He sympathized with feeling as though they had known each other for years, but that was simply not the case. No matter how comfortable they were in each other’s presence, the reality was that they were still strangers.

“I know that you don’t like my family’s secret guacamole recipe,” Nishinoya started despite what Asahi thought. He looked Asahi directly in the eyes as he spoke. He was serious. “You get along well with older people, but children freak you out. You have a good heart. You overthink everything. You get nervous and scared a lot, but you can be brave when you need to be. You’re nice and strong and very hot.”

Asahi hid his face behind his hands, desperate to not let Nishinoya see him blush. He was getting emotional, which was never good.

“Most importantly, I know that you and I are connected somehow,” Nishinoya continued. “I don’t know why we’re sharing our dreams, but does it really matter? I probably normally wouldn’t give a rats ass what destiny had in store for me, but I kinda like you. And if the gods wanted us to meet so badly that they connected us this way because they couldn’t do it in real life or whatever, then I’m not going to fight that. I’m not going to fight this.”

After a minute that felt longer than it was, Asahi lowered his hands and stared back at Nishinoya. “You like me?”

“I do. Don’t you like me?” the shorter boy asked back. “I mean, you sort of tried to accuse me of feeding you a love potion.”

“I did, didn’t I?” Asahi chuckled. “It was because… I think I do too.”

Nishinoya returned his sheepish smile and scooted closer on the step. Their knees knocked together and their thighs rested side by side. Large, golden eyes were peering up at Asahi expectantly. “Asahi-san… Can I kiss you?”

It was completely dark outside, save the two pumpkins on the last steps just by their feet. The orange light flickered across their bodies as they twisted to meet each other. Slowly, hands reached out to touch faces, eyes locked, then tentative lips connected. They moved even closer until they were perfectly slotted together. Asahi wrapped one hand around the base of Nishinoya’s neck. Nishinoya laced his fingers through Asahi’s long brown hair. Even when their mouths finally opened for each other, it was slow and sensual. It was new, investigative in nature. They were exploring each other. Tasting each other. Learning each other.

The air was cool on Asahi’s hot skin and the candle light was soft. He gathered Nishinoya in his arms and tried not to think about what this meant for the future. Reality, he decided, had no place in dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaah this was a little rushed so I'm sorry if it's sloppy. Tomorrow is NSFW day tho and I'm fREAKING out nervous. Wish me luck, honestly. I don't write a lot of NSFW so this will be an experience for us all lol


	5. Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: THIS CHAPTER IS NSFW.

The storm greeted Asahi by pinning him into the gate with a powerful surge of wind. He was stuck between the weather and iron, unable to move. Sharp, cold rain pelted his skin and face. It stung. The world was pitch black except for the occasional blinding streak of lightning, always accompanied by a deafening roar of thunder. It had been a while since he had been thrust inexplicably into such chaos, but he didn’t let himself panic. He knew what to do.

Even though he couldn’t see it, Asahi knew the house was close. Of course, it would take every bit of his strength to push through the gale. One step at a time. It was all he could focus on. His limbs and face were on fire where the water cut into him. The thunder and wind threatened to rupture his eardrums. He had to keep pushing, though. He had to get to the house.

When he was within arms reach of the lion’s head door, he half expected it to fly open for him. He wanted to be greeted by golden eyes and warmth. He wasn’t. He pushed the door open with the last of his stamina and collapsed into the cold, dark entry way. It was vacant. When the door was shut and Asahi had his breath back to a manageable pant, he held a hand to the wall and started looking for life.

“Nishinoya?” he asked loudly. His voice echoed down the dark halls. There was no response no matter how many times he repeated his call. Despite the trust Asahi had for the house, it was a little spooky in that moment. It reminded him of the first time he saw it from the outside. Dark and mysterious. He wasn’t afraid though. If anything, he was worried. He had never been alone in the house before.

Asahi wasn’t completely sure how long he searched, but by the time he found a dim light spilling out from under a doorway he was dry. Maybe it had happened unnaturally quickly. He didn’t want to dwell on it. He cared more about the first sign of life and rushed to fling open the door. He was overcome with relief to finally find Nishinoya, but his worry started creeping back when he took in the scene before him.

The room was some kind of common living area. There was a couch, a few chairs, a rug, a coffee table and a tv. None of the electricity was on and it was completely lit by some candles on the table. Nishinoya sat in the far corner of the couch, making himself as small as possible with his knees pulled up his chest. His hair was not styled, and instead fell limply into his eyes and over his ears. There were faint bags under his eyes that made him look very weary. Asahi knew why almost immediately. He was having a nightmare.

Asahi quietly moved to the couch, but didn’t reach out for him right away. Nishinoya slowly looked up at him. He opened his mouth as if he was about to give a greeting, but a particularly loud crack of thunder shook the room and he flinched. He hugged the himself tighter and mumbled, “I probably look really lame right now, huh?.”

Asahi wasted no more time. He draped himself around Nishinoya, pulling the weakened boy into his chest. Nishinoya curled up quickly in his lap and laid his head on Asahi’s shoulder. He was shaking a little bit. “You’re not lame, it’s normal to have nightmares,” Asahi murmured, his voice low and deep, rumbling through Nishinoya’s whole body comfortingly. He thought about the lightning bolt pumpkin and confusion bubbled up inside of him. “I thought you liked lightning, though.”

“I’ve always imitated storms thinking if I could be as strong, maybe I could defeat them someday,” Nishinoya mumbled. “Maybe it’s my twisted way of coping.”

“Coping?”

Nishinoya took a long, rattled breath before he started. But despite being afraid and tired he was still himself and he wasn’t one to keep secrets. “When I was in Junior High a really bad storm killed my parents.” Asahi’s heart sank. He thought back to the dream a couple of nights ago. Nishinoya’s mother and father, laughing, celebrating, full of life. The way Nishinoya remembered them. “They were on their way to pick me up from my grandmother’s, uh, this house. I was safe here, but they didn’t make it in time.”

Asahi rubbed gentle circles between Nishinoya’s shoulder blades as he talked. It seemed to be working. His muscles were a little more relaxed than they had been when Asahi had walked in. He wasn’t shaking as constantly anymore.

“Ever since, I’ve lived here with my grandmother. She’s been getting kind of old lately so my uncle and his family moved in to help out. When my grandfather built this place, he wanted to make sure he would always have room for his children and their families.”

“Your grandfather built the house?” Asahi asked quietly.

Nishinoya nodded. “That’s actually one true thing about my grandfather. Probably the only true thing I know. My grandmother tells me stories about him all the time, about how he was a kind person that took up all kinds of odd jobs to help people. I don’t know if any of the stories are true, but some of them are pretty cool.” He paused for a bit and glanced up at Asahi. It was very subtle but a blush spread across his face and he averted his eyes in embarrassment before he continued. “Grandmother says that he built the house sturdy to protect us in this life so that he could spend his time watching over my parents in the next one.”

With how close they were, Asahi was certain Nishinoya could hear how hard his heart was beating. He was flooded with affection for the smaller boy. There was so much he understood now, so many things that made sense about the way Nishinoya dreamed. Any doubts Asahi had before about Nishinoya being real were gone in that moment. This wasn’t a ‘perfect man’ developed by Asahi for Asahi. This was a complex, real person with a real past and a real present. He had a real family and real fears and real dreams and a real home that probably looked very similar to the one Asahi had seen over and over in his dreams.

A crack of thunder shot through the room again. Nishinoya hid his jump of fear by twisting his body around quickly so that he was straddling Asahi’s lap. He peered at the brunette with sincerity and determination in his eyes. “Distract me,” he said. His voice was husky. The implication made Asahi’s stomach flutter in anxiety and excitement.

The kiss started out deep. Nishinoya worked his tongue into Asahi’s mouth right away and Asahi let him. It was deeper and rougher than their first kiss. Nishinoya nipped at Asahi’s lips when they parted for a quick breath of air and moaned into his open mouth. Ripples of affection coursed through Asahi’s body. They had just started and already the arousal was mounting.

Asahi slid his hands down Nishinoya’s back and sides slowly, feeling every muscle through his shirt. He tried to mask the fact that his hands were shaking. He had never done anything like this before, but his desire overwhelmed his nerves.

After just a second of hesitation, Asahi’s hands dipped below his hips and curved around Nishinoya’s ass. As Nishinoya deepened their kiss and moaned again, Asahi pulled him closer so that their half-hard erections were near each other. Nishinoya responded to this by eagerly rolling his hips and grinding them together through their clothes.

“N-Nishinoya,” Asahi croaked. His mind was going hazy with lust.

“Asahi,” Nishinoya murmured back as he rolled his hips again. “I want you.”

Asahi grunted and folded himself over the smaller boy. He pushed Nishinoya back onto the couch and towered over him. They looked at each other for a moment. Asahi decided he liked Nishinoya much better when his eyes reflected hunger instead of fear. His soft hair and red-rimmed eyes weren’t sad anymore, they were sexy.

He bent down and took Nishinoya’s lips in a quick, wet kiss. Then he tilted his head around Nishinoya’s so he could nibble at his earlobe. Nishinoya clawed his shoulder blades and arched his body up into Asahi’s. Asahi trailed nips and kisses down the side of his face until he could bite gently at the base of his neck.

With their faces beside each other, their size difference assured that their groins were no longer touching. Nishinoya’s erection was pressed firmly into Asahi’s stomach and Asahi’s was hovering between Nishinoya’s legs. It burned with the need to be touched. Nishinoya must have agreed. He grabbed Asahi by the collar and roughly pushed him upwards and into the back of the couch until they were flipped around.

Asahi blinked a couple of times, trying to shake the smokey arousal from his vision and process what had happened. He was on his back and Nishinoya was sitting on his lap, grinding against him slowly. He was sporting a devious grin and a perfect tent in his pants. Blood was pounding in Asahi’s head as he took the sight in.

He pushed himself up on his elbows and scooted backwards on the couch until he was propped up against the armrest. As he did so, Nishinoya helped Asahi pull his pants down to his knees. He didn’t mind. In fact, he hissed with delight as little hands dipped below his waist band and pulled out his cock. He wanted this so badly.

“T-Take off your pants too,” Asahi requested, his voice barely above a whisper.

Nishinoya hummed in agreement and sat up so that he could wiggle out of his lower clothes. They were both still wearing shirts, but Nishinoya pushed Asahi’s up a little bit so that he could run his hands over his abs. He licked his lips in approval just before leaning down to sloppily plant a kiss in Asahi’s mouth. “You’re so hot, Asahi.”

Asahi couldn’t find words to respond. He couldn't find the words to explain to Nishinoya how he felt at that moment or all of the things Nishinoya meant to him. He couldn't just _tell_ Nishinoya that he needed him, he just had to show him, make him feel the depths of his affection.

He wrapped one hand around both of their erections and, using pre-cum and spit as lubricant, started to pump them together. His hand was big enough to fit around both of them perfectly. Nishinoya moaned loudly in approval. His hips bucked a couple of times involuntarily. Asahi threw his head back over the armrest which just prompted his partner to start sucking at his exposed adam's apple.

Nishinoya came first with Asahi close behind. The last few strokes were the easiest as cum dripped down their shafts together. A little bit spilled out onto Asahi’s exposed stomach but he didn’t care. When they were both spent, he dropped his hand and Nishinoya dropped his whole body, falling face first into Asahi’s shoulder. Their panting synchronized immediately.

Nishinoya chuckled and propped himself up on his elbows so he could look Asahi in this eyes. The devil was in his smirk as he said, “That was the best wet dream I think I’ve ever had.”

Asahi used his clean hand to cover his face, trying to hide the bright blush that grew there. “N-Nishinoya, please,” he begged through the culprits laughter. 

As they curled up together still naked from the waist down, Asahi noticed that the storm outside had trickled into a mere gentle rain. Water drops hit the window to the tune of Nishinoya’s heartbeat. Asahi held him closer and decided that he would spend his whole life making sure that this little lightning bolt knew he was strong enough to overcome anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaah I'm sorry I really struggled with this chapter. I don't write a whole lot of smut and it's super embarrassing every time I do so this took a little extra time to come out (no pun intended). Anyway I hope every had a very good NSFW day lol
> 
> I'm gonna try to get the last two chapters up tomorrow. Thank so much for your patience~~~


	6. Horror Movies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should have probably gone to bed after uploading the last chapter, but I didn't and now this one is done too ahahahaa WHOOPS. Rip my sleep schedule.
> 
> I can't believe it's the last day of Asanoya Halloween week! Only one chapter left to go~~

It was almost Halloween, which was the most appropriate time of the year to watch horror movies. At least, in some people's opinions. Those people being some of Asahi’s closest friends. Normally Asahi didn’t particularly agree with them. He was, to say the least, easily frightened. But seeing as he had been having particularly good dreams lately, he didn’t see the immediate threat for once. In hindsight, all the good dreams really just meant was that Asahi was overdue for a nightmare of his own. Thus, he ran. He ran from his first nightmare in weeks. He ran until his legs were jelly and his throat was fire. He ran until he found the only place he knew for certain he would be safe.

The gate was open but the door was locked when he finally got there. He pounded on the wood above the lion’s head. There was no answer. Was Nishinoya deep in the house again having another nightmare? There wasn't a storm. It was a beautiful night with a clear sky. He could even see stars and a full moon.

Asahi abandoned the door when he heard footsteps growing closer. At the very least he couldn’t stay here. He rushed around the side of the house through the garden. The first window he saw he tried to lift open, but it didn’t budge. He threw a rock at it, but it bounced uselessly to the ground. Then Asahi remembered something very crucial. A little piece of information he had been seeded with the first time he had come to this house. There was a back door.

As he was thinking this, the man following him finally caught up. Asahi couldn’t tell anything distinguishable about him except that he was huge, larger than Asahi in both height and muscle weight, and that he was wearing a grotesquely friendly smiling mask. There was a spatter of dried blood on one of his cheeks and Asahi could see his wide, bloodshot eyes through the little holes. His loud panting was amplified by the plastic it was trapped behind. It made Asahi’s stomach churn with fear.

The masked man lifted his weapon, a blood stained machete, right above Asahi’s head. It gave him just enough time to dart out of the way. He put all of his strength into a sprint around the corner of the house, listening as the killer dug his weapon into a board and struggled to get it out. He did though, and his heavy footsteps followed Asahi at an ominously speedy pace.

Of course, per Asahi’s nightmare scenario, the back door was locked too. He tried barreling his shoulder into it, but it wouldn’t budge. It was as if the house was completely barricaded, which would have been _fantastic_ if Asahi was inside! He banged on the door with both of his fists and started screaming, “NISHINOYA!” at the top if his lungs.

The house couldn’t protect him if he couldn’t get inside. And where was Nishinoya? This had never happened before, but Asahi stopped to consider one horrifying possibility. Was there a chance he wasn’t dreaming tonight? He continued to bang, hoping with his entire being that that wasn’t the case.

There was no answer. At least, not from his small dreaming partner. The killer had caught up though. He slowly raised his machete once more, completely confident that this time he would claim a victim. He tilted his head, the creepy smile of his mask sending a cold shiver up Asahi’s body. All the brunette could do was fell backwards in fright and await his demise.

Asahi closed his eyes and tried to will himself awake. He didn’t want to die in his dream. He didn’t want to, at this point, dream at all without Nishinoya by his side. But he didn’t get his wish. He could still feel the crisp night air and smell the blood covering his attacker. Then he heard an obnoxious battle cry and the sickening thunk of a blunt weapon smashing into a skull. He cracked his eyes open. The killer was the ground, out cold, his machete flung off to one side.

To his ecstatic relief, Nishinoya was standing triumphantly behind the killer, a bright grin on his face. He had some mud on his clothes and he was carrying what looked like a heavy wooden baseball bat. There was some blood on the tip, but Asahi didn’t think it was from the killer. It was from something else and the sight of it made Asahi’s stomach lurch just a little.

Nishinoya helped him to his feet and then handed him the discarded machete. “Come on,” he said enthusiastically. “You’ll need this!”

“For what?” Asahi asked, trying not to sound as panicked as he felt. “Where did you come from?”

“Sorry,” Nishinoya said as he led Asahi around the house to the front door. He fumbled with some keys he pulled out of his pocket. “I just fell asleep, actually. I was up late watching horror movies. We have to hurry inside, by the way, there’s a hoard of zombies on their way down the street.”

“What?!” Asahi yelled.

“That’s probably why you were having trouble getting inside,” Nishinoya decided, stopping in front of the lion’s head door. Asahi thought maybe its open mouth was laughing at him instead of roaring at any intruders. It was mocking him for not being able to get inside the house without help. “The house was preparing itself to be my ultimate zombie-proof fortress!”

Sure enough, just before the door swung open, Asahi could hear a multitude of gurgling moans wafting through the air. The stench of death was thick on its heels. Nishinoya banished both of them by tugging Asahi inside and closing the door behind them with a heavy thud.

“We gotta board up the doors,” Nishinoya said urgently. “This one and the back one. It’ll be faster if we-”

Asahi cut him off. “No, Nishinoya, please, don’t make us split up. I can’t, I-”

To his mild embarrassment Nishinoya started laughing as he pleaded. Of course, the negative feelings were not nearly enough to outweigh the flutter of his heart at the sound. Nishinoya’s laugh was so bright and beautiful. It made every problem disappear. “I’m kidding. Don’t worry, there’s no way we’re splitting up. I’ve seen enough horror movies to know that’s a bad idea. I’m just teasing you.”

Asahi smiled weakly in relief. “Nishinoya…” he whined, though his tone indicated he much more irritated than he actually was. Nishinoya made him feel strangely playful. “That’s so mean.”

“I can’t help it, Asahi. You’re adorable when you’re worried.”

Asahi felt so many things when he stood by Nishinoya. He felt safe. He felt wanted. He felt appreciated, even for all of his quirks and weaknesses. He didn’t need anything else from Nishinoya besides his presence. Still, the smaller boy gave and gave. He grabbed Asahi by the shirt collar and tugged him down so he could press a kiss into his cheek. Then he smiled wide and said, “I missed you.”

“We just saw each other last night,” Asahi murmured as he lifted to his full height again. He was smiling bashfully, though, and scratching his cheek with one finger in embarrassment. Despite the rapid growth of their relationship, Asahi would be hard pressed to say he was used to this yet.

“I know,” Nishinoya said with the wave of his hand. “It’s not enough, though. Nights aren’t enough anymore. I want to see you in real life, Asahi. I want to meet you for real, really badly.”

Asahi sighed. Butterflies were alive in his stomach. He was blushing and grinning like a fool. He didn’t care anymore. “I want to meet you too. So much.”

When he held Nishinoya in dreams, it felt so real. He could feel the warmth and weight of his lithe body pressed against his own. He could taste the sweetness on his tongue. What would it feel like in real life if this sensation was already so dimensional? His heart lit up with excitement just thinking about it. He tried, desperately, to summon a phone number, his address, an email, anything, literally anything that would help Nishinoya find him in real life. But somehow, all that crucial identification was blocked in his mind.

Asahi was so frustrated. He was sure his frown looked scary. To is credit, Nishinoya looked equally aggravated. He was probably experiencing the same block. Asahi couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight, but he tried to keep his voice down. Nishinoya was just so cute with his brow furrowed like that. “The dream gods sure are making us work for it huh?”

“Fuck the dream gods!” Nishinoya yelled, which just made Asahi laugh again. “We’ll just have to try harder, I guess! I’m not giving up! I’m going to spend every waking minute looking for you!”

Asahi let his laugh die into a gentle smile. “And every dreaming minute hanging out with me?”

Nishinoya laughed again and also, despite the imminent danger of both a serial killer and a hoard of the undead, took the time to stand on his tip toes and wrap his arms around Asahi’s shoulders. Their eyes locked and their foreheads knocked together. Asahi could feel Nishinoya’s nose flutter against his as he closed his eyes. “Absolutely,” Nishinoya said, letting his whisper ghost across Asahi’s face. “Every dream for the rest of my life. I’ll never let you go.”

When Asahi woke up, it was not only with the same amount of giddiness that had been plaguing him recently, but also a sense of purpose and rock solid determination. He was going to do what he should have been doing all along. He was going to find Nishinoya’s house.


	7. Trick or Treat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SORRY THIS IS SO LATE I hope it catches you right on the tail of all your Halloween spirit. The holiday just caught up with me in a bad way. At least I got it done lol
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this fic and leaving your comments and kudos. I had so much fun writing it and if you had fun reading then I'm glad.
> 
> Also SUPER HUGE THANKS to the moderaters of Asanoya Week. This Halloween week was the MOST FUN and y'all did a stellar job. All the art and other fics were FANTASTIC and if you haven't yet you should go to http://asanoyaweek.tumblr.com/ and check it all out. I can't wait to participate in more Asanoya events in the future!!
> 
> HAPPY (belated) HALLOWEEN!!!

Asahi wasn’t having a nightmare. In fact, he was wide awake. Though the torture he was enduring was arguably worse than anything he had encountered in the dreamworld, and it had all started with an innocent phone call that morning.

“What are you doing tonight?”

“I’m just gonna stay in,” he mumbled. Really he was planning on looking at google maps all evening, scouring neighborhoods through street view. It would be the fourth night in a row he’d do so. He wasn’t going to tell Suga that, though. He’d definitely sound crazy.

“What? It’s Halloween! You should come out with us tonight!”

Asahi flinched. It was a trap. He’d already let on that he didn’t have plans and now Suga had him and there wasn’t going to be an easy escape. “I don’t know…” he started slowly. “What are you doing?”

“There’s a huge event happening in the Yellow Light shopping district. A big costume party. It’ll be fun!”

“Where’s that?”

“You’ve never heard of the Yellow Light Shopping District?! Asahi, you are definitely not getting out of this one now.”

Asahi sighed. “I have to go to bed early tonight…” It had been awhile since he had dreamed. He was getting anxious.

“If I promise to get you home early will you please come? You’ve been weird lately,” Suga sounded strangely sincere on the phone. “It’s bumming me out. So you don’t have a choice. You’re going.”

That was how, instead of curling up in his bed just after the sun had set, Asahi found himself at a party two towns away, pressed between a sticky plaster wall and a sweaty mob of costumed dancers. He didn’t have a costume, so he didn’t fit in. The loud music was giving him a headache. The group he came with was nowhere to be found. A nightmare would have been a welcome exchange. He loved his friends and he knew that Suga had the best intentions, but it was just simply not the place for Asahi. He was suffocating, so he excused himself for some air.

The shops felt strangely familiar, even though Asahi knew for a fact he had never been before. It was dark and mostly empty save for the few stores that were hosting Halloween parties like the one that Asahi had just escaped. A short walk down the road was a neighborhood that seemed peaceful enough, and even though it was already dark Asahi could see there were still some trick-or-treaters running around.

The weather was crisp and fresh. Children dressed up as ghosts and monsters and witches and all manner of beasts ran from house to house to collect their promised candy dues. Jack-o-lanterns and brown leaves littered the pavement. The street lights colored everything in gold. It was a perfect Halloween night by all accounts. Still, there was an emptiness in Asahi that he hadn’t been able to shake for a long time.

Asahi looked at each house as he passed, a new habit he had taken up lately. There was nothing out of the ordinary at first. He had definitely never been to this neighborhood or town before, but a little trickle of recognition began to pool in the back of his mind. The shopping district and several of the houses were so familiar. He had ignored the inclination at first, but the longer he stood on the sidewalk and brooded, the more it bothered him. There was something wrong with these houses. Something that was different... They weren’t on fire?

As soon as the idea passed through his mind, Asahi whirled around to look the skyline of the city in the distance. He had seen this scene before, this exact angles of the skyscrapers, though last time it was being demolished by a giant creature from outer space. And the shopping district? If the buildings were brightly colored with neon paints he would have known them immediately. If he said it outloud someone would have locked him up for it, but he suddenly knew without a shadow of a doubt that he’d found it. By some complete coincidence or miracle he had found the correct neighborhood.

Asahi was usually the type of person to balance his excitement by noting all the ways a situation could go wrong. He hated being disappointed. Reality checks were crucial to his prosperity. What if he didn’t recognize the house when he saw it? Dreams were not absolute fact, it could be a little different in real life. There was also the strong possibility that Nishinoya wouldn’t be home if he found it. He could be out trick-or-treating with his little cousin. What would Asahi do then? Introduce himself to Nishinoya’s grandmother or uncle as ‘the guy he’s been seeing in his dreams’?

Not once, however, did he consider the possibility of Nishinoya not existing. He was real. And he was near. Asahi _knew it_.

“Oh my god,” a mom within earshot hissed at her friend. It was just a little involuntary eavesdropping and Asahi was about to ignore the conversation to continue looking at houses, but stopped when he heard her next words. “Is that tacky lion head _carved_ into that door?”

“You mean that’s not a Halloween decoration?” her friend said with equal disgust. They laughed, but Asahi turned around so fast he almost snapped his neck.

The wrought iron gate was cracked open, inviting strangers on the premises. Asahi slowly walked up to it and grabbed a bar, remembering the feeling of it grating into his back as he was pushed against it by an strong wind. Just beyond was the garden which was smaller in real life, but Asahi still picture clearly the branches turning into hands and bodies floating the shallow pond. Then, of course, there was the front door, with its lion head carving. Its maw was open wide to bare its fangs at all who threatened its inhabitants. On the bottom step if the porch were two curious pumpkins. One was a jagged, fierce lightning bolt made to ward off nightmares. The other, well, it wasn’t an exact replica of the friendly jack-o-lantern face Asahi had made in a dream once. But it was a fine copy.

Asahi was so deep in a trance observing the house that he didn’t notice when some children ran past him and knocked on the wood beside the lion’s face. When it opened, Asahi visibly jumped and his pounding heart moved into his throat. He swallowed it back down only after he had processed the image of the old woman that answered. She handed the very pleased children some blue ice pops and wished them a very enthusiastic Happy Halloween. Asahi recognized her instantly, if not through her visage then certainly through her cheerful personality.

 _Where is he?_ Asahi thought to himself between his heartbeats.

At first there were no signs of another life besides the grandmother. She sent the children on their way and began to close the door again. Then, just before it slid shut a very loud, almost obnoxious, voice shot out of the house. “Grandma, did you give them my ice cream?! I need those!”

Asahi wanted to cry. He wanted to fall to his knees and pray thanks to the gods. He wanted to rush to the door and throw it open. He wanted to do so many things but all he could do was take a couple of steps past the gate and stand completely still in the middle of the yard as another group of children ran past him up to the door. Their mothers were staring at this strange, statue-like costumeless man, but they didn’t say anything to him and Asahi didn’t particularly care what they thought. He was too busy freaking out. Did he look okay? What would he say? What if Nishinoya didn’t recognize him? What if-

The door opened again. “Go sit down, Grandma, I’m taking over! If you’re gonna give out all the good stuff then you can’t be trusted to-”

“Trick or treat!” the children called enthusiastically, holding up their buckets and pillow cases. They were completely ignored. The keeper of their treats was captivated by something on the lawn that they didn’t care about. “Trick or TREAT!” one little boy repeated with an extra dose of attitude. Nishinoya dropped the bowl, and all of its contents, in the kids open pillow case. Then, before they had a chance to react, he bolted past them with every ounce of his strength.

Asahi was suddenly terrified. There were a lot of reasons to be scared including anxiety and embarrassment, but mostly he was just scared because Nishinoya was _fast_. And he was coming in hot with no signs of stopping. At the last second, Asahi put his hands up to brace himself while Nishinoya jumped into the air. He latched both legs around Asahi’s waist and both arms around his neck and together they went falling backwards into a giant leaf pile that Asahi, thankfully, happened to be standing in front of.

“You found it, Asahi!” Nishinoya exclaimed through his laughter as he sat up on Asahi’s chest. “You found my house! You found _me_!!”

Asahi sat up and cupped a hand to Nishinoya’s cheek right over a little dimple he’d never seen before. He looked into those golden eyes that had saved him so many times and noticed that in real life, they were more brown with flecks of gold scattered throughout. The smaller boy was panting from his sprint and Asahi could smell the sweetness from an ice pop on his breath. The dreams did not even compare to the sensation pooling in his gut. “Nishinoya, I’m in love with you.”

“Yeah,” Nishinoya responded, breathlessly. “Me too.”

Mothers quickly rushed their children out the gate as the two boys pulled each other in for a well deserved kiss. It had the perfect mixture of gentleness and desperation, and it set off fireworks in Asahi’s heart. He wrapped his arms around Nishinoya and held him as close to his own body as they could get. The leaves crinkled underneath them and poked into his back and the wind was cold on his skin but none of it mattered. His soul was on fire.

Asahi had never felt so whole in his life. All his doubts were gone in an instant. He was so sure of this, so sure of Nishinoya. To an outsider, they would have looked like crazy strangers, but the two of them knew better. They had fate’s blessings. When Halloween was over the two of them would have a few consequences to face and the challenges in real life would seem like a whole new brand of nightmares, but at least they would soon be sharing a bed so they could face them together. So Asahi pushed aside the fears, grasped the little lightning bolt in his hands, and promised to never let him go while awake or otherwise.


End file.
